Each year, smoking kills over 480,000 Americans, and that includes 41,000 premature deaths that are secondhand smoke related. The FDA recently announced a new comprehensive plan that aims to protect children from the dangers of the deadly habit and reduce smoking-related deaths by focusing on the issue of nicotine addiction.
In a surprising press release, the FDA acknowledged what the vaping industry has been saying for years: “nicotine – while highly addictive – is delivered through products that represent a continuum of risk and is most harmful when delivered through smoke particles in combustible cigarettes.” That is the exact rationale behind the vaping industry promoting Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) such as e-cigarettes and vaporizers to encourage smokers to switch to vaping. They deliver nicotine without any smoke, tar, and the thousands of toxic chemicals present in cigarette smoke while providing users with the same satisfying and familiar hand-to-mouth action that many smokers miss when attempting to quit cigarettes. Using e-cigarettes, ex-smokers can even wean themselves off the addictive substance by gradually reducing their nicotine levels and eventually, transition to zero-nicotine options.
To combat addiction, the FDA plans to reduce the levels of nicotine in traditional cigarettes so that they are no longer addictive. The agency intends on initiating public dialogue by issuing Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to discuss the positive impacts of such a step and any potential adverse effects, such as the possibility of the measure resulting in a black market for higher nicotine content cigarettes.
The agency also announced that, in an effort to encourage innovations that can have a positive public health impact such as ENDS, it has extended the deadline for the submission of noncombustible products such as e-cigarettes to August 8, 2022. In addition, manufacturers would be allowed to continue to sell their products while the agency reviews their applications.
Moreover, the FDA will be consulting the public and seeking scientific data on important complex topics such as the role of flavors in tobacco products in enticing youth and in helping smokers switch from the more combustible cigarettes to electronic cigarettes.
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